My grandmother cooked a big chicken dinner for her family the night before her brain surgery in 1993. She was a truly special person. It was ultimately the final time she could act on her own terms — a last meal. And it typified the kindness and bravery within her.

This remains a poignant moment in my life. It is how I hope to face things, too, with kindness and giving in the face of true fear. I don’t know that I’ll muster the same. I probably won’t have that strength.

But my grandmother’s final 14 years on earth were truly difficult and sad. Her surgery to remove a tumor left her unable to be herself anymore. She was nauseated and bed ridden for years. She slid further and further into dementia before finally passing in 2007. Our family is certainly not unique. Every family has these sad stories.

And every time we get into policy discussions about big health care issues, I always think of her, because statistics are inadequate in describing life and health. People are not numbers, though they are reduced to that for the sake of policy. This is inevitable, but numbers are incomplete. And that should never be overlooked by the policy makers, who must crunch numbers. Because every number is somebody’s mama, daughter, son, grandmother.

Likewise, my grandmother’s story is my starting point into an adult viewpoint of our health care system. Prior to her demise, I viewed such things through a child’s eyes. But this opened up harsh new realities about life and death and how good people often suffer terribly unjust things.

I realized, too, that every family of an elderly invalid has awful prospects. Can a person give up a job to stay around the clock with a loved one? Can a son or daughter afford to hire someone to stay with that loved one when family is not around? Does the family seek a nursing home to provide constant care?

It’s terribly depressing.

Our family admitted my grandmother to a nursing home. She had to be drained of all assets by the government before Medicaid kicked in to cover any of the costs. I mention this because Medicaid is a last, terrible option for many elderly in this position. It is not something I want for myself at all. I want to be able to leave something for my family when that time comes. I know she did too.

I think of her whenever I hear people rip Medicaid as just another perk for “do nothings.” There are certainly people in this world, in this nation, who seek to rob the system, who seek to profit off the government by cheating the average taxpayer. This is an attitude that extends across all fiscal spectrums. Greed shows its ugly head among the rich and poor alike. That’s not a class warfare statement; it’s just a human truth.

But the stories of Medicaid recipients vary from those who leech off the system to those who are truly hard-working people in bad circumstances. Blanket judgments are inadequate either way.

No doubt, Medicaid and Medicare are due for reform. There’s no way our system can hold up over the long haul. We have an aging population and a system infected with rampant health care inflation.

But any reform needs to start with a base level recognition of goals. For instance, we must not sacrifice what is truly important: We must continue to identify and help those truly in need — the child with a heart defect, the adult with Down’s Syndrome, the grandmother with dementia.

Beyond any other issue, the care of those who truly can’t care for themselves is imperative. It is fundamental to moral rightness in America. It should not be a liberal or conservative cry. It should be a unified voice of compassion for the truly needy. This should never be lost amid all our political fights. When we lose sight of this simple truth, we lose our way.

Help the truly needy such as wife of deceased man who has children where they have contributed to the community. Do not help the irresponsible such as a multiple REPEAT drug addict and if necessary take the children away from them.

I'll take this as a teaching opportunity. Medicare does help the children of poor mothers and the mothers themselves if they qualify. If they don't, there are other government programs and charities that may can help. Aren't you glad it is all there for them? I am.

As to addiction, you show your ignorance. There is no such thing as repeat addiction. If you are addicted to anything, you will always be addicted. There is using and not using, but the victim will always be an addict. Most all addicts truly cannot help themselves because of the biological and chemical damage set up by the reaction to the drug or that inborn brain circuitry that rules their lives.

Obviously, you have access to the internet so why don't you spend your time learning about the things that cause us all problems. Be sure to access reliable websites; you can begin with www.na.org (narcotics anonymous).

If working father for example has enough medicare quarters ( yes Ms K some marginal workers are able to work for many many years at different jobs and get the so call quarters in ) as employer pd his SS and he dies of drug overdose his wife and children do get medicare benefits. 1.7 million Ga people on Medicaid and 1/3 children.

Many people believe in being a reborn christian and those sometimes are drug addicts and at church have heard them say their religion has resolved this issue. Others with this problem often note they are no longer addicted. Just like John Edwards noted never had affair with staffer.

PROBLEM Ms. K is when the private responsible sector people can no longer pay for the public benefit sector. When these people are in lesser supply perhaps you will wish more were around.

I read your posts and you to me are one of those open mouth spouting people who mean well but are ignorant. I see no reason discussing things with you but your post here wrong.

"I read your posts and you to me are one of those open mouth spouting people who mean well but are ignorant. I see no reason discussing things with you but your post here wrong."

If you see no reason to discuss anything with me then why did you reply to my post? Do you not want a response from me because you are afraid you cannot hold your own against my logic? If I am ignorant of something, please, by all means, inform me and others here as a teachable moment. I am not familiar with Medicare quarters; is that the 25-cent kind or the calendar kind? Are you addressing Medicare or Medicaid? I mistakenly typed Medicare rather than Medicaid myself. Social Security is not Medicare or Medicaid. Can you alleviate my confusion here? I have read that fully half of Medicaid recipients are children, not the third you indicate.

Are you trying to say that born-again Christian drug addicts completely get rid of their addictions because of their religion while those drug addicts who are not, only say they are cured but are lying? Addiction is never "cured". Please look into Alcoholics Anonymous's methods (the twelve steps). Apparently, just about the only way to true sobriety is through a spiritual connection of some kind, not necessarily that of religion or even God. Less than 1% of alcoholics have recoved without going this route.

Why don't you simply address your comments to the issue under discussion rather than to the poster here who has taken your words as quite rude and unecessary. Does being rude make you feel superior or smarter?

Mr. Mitcham you are certainly wise beyond your years. It is refreshing to hear a voice of reason in an atmosphere of partisan bickering. Alleviation of pain and suffering should certainly be a noble goal of any leader or politician.

People so need to hear this. I hope all the politics on health care and welfare is not coming from the pulpits in Madison County. I suspect the popular media is the culprit. I have always been happy to pay into Social Security and Medicare from even my most paultry paychecks. I feel it is the obligation of any society to take care of its aged.

I cared for my grandmother in my home until she died. If not for her meager Social Security and Medicare, I could not have done that. When her minimal savings ran out, I had no way to support her, in which case Medicaid would have paid for an expensive nursing home but not her or me to keep her in my home, which would have been much cheaper. While I was contemplating what to do, God called her home just in time. What if We hadn't?

Changes need to be made to allow in-home care options and to weed out the illegitimate takers.

I'm not complaining about not enough pay here. My complaint is that Medicare should pay for in-home care which is cheaper for Medicare and better for the patient. I'm 63 years old. I cared for my 85-year-old grandmother when I was 29, divorced 4 years and raising a child on just above minimum wages at a time good jobs for women were not common. I did have 2 parttime jobs and had to pay a person to stay with my grandmother. If I worked an additional job, I would have had to pay another person to stay with her, eating up nearly all my pay. I wanted more than anything to care for both her and my child, but that's the way life goes for women.

Add Comment

Name

Email

Homepage

In reply to

Comment

E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Phone*

What is zero plus six?

Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.